Oxygen - of all the things we put in our bodies, it is by far the most important. If it weren't for oxygen, we'd cease to exist. It's definitely a good thing, then, that we can find oxygen all around us. Oxygen fuels our cells and gives our bodies the basic building blocks we need to survive. It helps us heal, and when we're stressed, taking a few deep breaths can help us calm down. But did you know the oxygen you're breathing right now is only about 21% pure?
That begs the question: What if we could breathe air that has 100% pure oxygen? As it turns out, Better Life Carolinas provides exactly that with our hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). And while the name sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, the technology and benefits are real.
A wise person once said that oxygen under pressure equates to pure health. In some ways, that explains hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a nutshell. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) or hyperbaric chamber therapy is a revolutionary treatment where a patient relaxes in a comfortable chamber filled with 100% pure oxygen.
HBOT was initially used early in the 1900s and was later used in the U.S. to treat decompression sickness, which affects scuba divers. Today, hyperbaric chamber therapy is used by people from all walks of life, from businesspeople and athletes to blue-collar workers and stay-at-home moms.
During HBOT, the air pressure in the hyperbaric chamber is ramped up two or three times higher than typical air pressure. This increased pressure allows your body and lungs to absorb and gather higher amounts of pure oxygen - much more than you would be able to inhale, even if you were breathing pure oxygen.
If you're looking for an effective, efficient alternative to invasive procedures or heavy pharmaceutical medications, using a hyperbaric chamber in Hanahan, SC is worth considering. Over the last few years, HBOT has exploded in popularity. More and more people are choosing to use hyperbaric chambers for certain conditions and ailments because they don't require surgery and have no serious side effects.
During hyperbaric therapy treatment, air pressure in the chamber is ramped up so that it is many times higher than ambient air. This increased pressure compresses the breathable oxygen inside the hyperbaric chamber, which you breathe into your body by way of your lungs and skin. The air is then circulated throughout your body via your own bloodstream.
When this pure oxygen is distributed in your body, it saturates your organs, tissues, blood, and spinal cord fluid. It even settles into areas of your body where circulation may be poor or blocked. Like powerful jumper cables, this potent oxygen jump-starts your body's cellular regeneration processes, significantly decreasing harmful inflammation.
This increase in pure oxygen and decrease in inflammation is used to treat many different types of conditions and illnesses, including:
When it comes to common uses for hyperbaric chambers, treatment for sports-related injuries is near the top of the list. Trusted by athletes of all persuasions across multiple sports, hyperbaric chamber therapy has helped countless men and women recover from common issues like fractures, sprains, and compartment syndrome. In fact, studies show that hyperbaric therapy for athletes may work just as effectively as traditional therapy when used as part of a recovery program to achieve the highest healing potential.
That's because competition, training, and recovery go hand in hand. To help with the rigors of high-level sports, HBOT oxygenates muscles, boosts immune systems, and speeds up recovery time for injuries. HBOT cuts down on recovery time by boosting your body's self-healing processes. That, in turn, promotes cell regeneration, which helps encourage tissues and muscles to mend organically, lessening scarring.
When a person has a stroke, blood flow to their brain is disrupted, most often by a major artery blockage. This causes a lack of blood flow, which manifests very quickly, and results in dead brain tissue or hypoxia. When untreated, the blocked artery causes a litany of damage which usually gets worse over time.
While it's impossible to say how much salvageable tissue is lost in the time after a stroke, hyperbaric chamber therapy may help boost cell reproduction and provide oxygen to tissue that died due to lack of blood flow. The non-functioning cells around the damaged tissue area cause much of a person's post-stroke issues. If HBOT can help bring life back to dead cells, the stroke victim could regain lost functionality.
Over the years, many studies have shown promising results when patients use hyperbaric chambers for stroke recovery. In fact, a study conducted in 2013 by Tel Aviv University's Dr. Shai Efrati showed without a doubt that high oxygen levels can awaken dormant neurons. After a two-month period of HBOT for two hours a day, five times a week, brain imaging showed a significant increase in neuronal activity in patients compared to periods of non-treatment.
Patients in this study reported better sensation, less paralysis, and more ability to speak.
Hyperbaric chamber therapy has been used for years by skincare clinicians to supplement common procedures. The results are often stunning and have been shown to help patients with the following:
But how does a hyperbaric chamber in Hanahan, SC kick-start skin rejuvenation? When oxygen levels in your body drop as you age, your body's healing ability slowly declines, resulting in less tissue function, damaged tissue, cracked skin, slow-healing wounds, and wrinkles.
The pressurized oxygen used in HBOT sessions can reach tissue at the cellular level to improve stem-cell growth, immune system defenses, and circulation while reducing inflammation. This process can have a powerful detoxification effect on your body. When toxins are removed, skin blemishes and discolorations are often removed, too, leaving your skin healthy and rejuvenated.
They say that without pain, there is no gain, and that's typically true with plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures. However, studies show that HBOT can help alleviate pain and boost recovery after plastic surgeries.
With normal levels of oxygen in the body, plastic surgery healing times can be lengthy and painful. Because hyperbaric chamber treatments expose your body to pure oxygen, recovery time is often reduced, and the healing process is accelerated - by as much as 75% in some instances.
The benefits of hyperbaric chamber therapy, when used for plastic surgery recovery, are numerous and include:
A few plastic surgery procedures that HBOT can help with include facelifts, liposuction, mommy makeovers, breast augmentations, and even rhinoplasties.
It's hard to fathom how much pain and PTSD a person goes through when they suffer from a traumatic brain injury. Serious head injuries don't just affect the recipient of the injury - they impact the patient's family, friends, and co-workers. Being able to treat people with serious concussions, TBIs, and other life-changing conditions like strokes is one of the main reasons we do what we do at Better Life Carolinas.
Mild TBIs usually require emergency care, medication, and extensive rest. But severe brain injuries require comprehensive medical interventions and post-care initiatives like speech therapy and physical therapy. The good news is that using a hyperbaric chamber in Hanahan, SC as part of a comprehensive medical strategy may provide natural brain healing in TBI patients.
Hyperbaric chamber treatment's primary use in these cases is to hyper-oxygenate tissues, which helps dissolve oxygen in the plasma. This action triggers several healing processes without overwhelming the patient's antioxidant system. The working mechanism of oxygen under pressure can help improve cerebral blood flow through micro-vessels and target injured areas in order to decrease inflammation.
This promising anti-inflammatory effect is the primary advantage of HBOT for traumatic brain injury patients and clears the way for natural, non-invasive healing.
Hyperbaric chamber therapy has also been documented to help TBI sufferers in many other ways, including:
As it turns out, using a hyperbaric chamber in Hanahan, SC may have benefits in the bedroom, too. Studies show that men suffering from ED may now have an additional treatment option to reclaim their sex lives. The International Journal of Impotence Research published a study in 2018 to determine if HBOT was a viable, non-surgical treatment for erectile dysfunction.
The results were very positive and showed that erectile function improved by as much as 88% in patients. Subsequent MRI scans analyzing blood flow of the penis also showed dramatic improvement. The study concluded that, even after years of ED, men could experience benefits from using hyperbaric chambers in lieu of risky surgeries and ineffective ED meds.
The documented improvements were due to more angiogenesis or growth of blood vessels in the penis. When new blood vessels grow in the penis, they can carry more blood to the organ, which helps achieve more frequent, stronger erections.
Though hyperbaric chambers are getting more popular with everyone from athletes to office workers, some folks are still out of the loop. If you're interested in learning more about this exciting, non-invasive, natural treatment, we encourage you to contact Better Life Carolinas today. Until we hear from you, here are answers to some of the most common questions we get regarding hyperbaric chamber therapy.
AWhen your session begins, oxygen will immediately circulate throughout the chamber, and pressure will gradually increase. At this point, most patients start feeling a fullness sensation in their ears, like they're ascending or descending in a plane. This feeling only lasts for 10-15 minutes. An experienced Better Life Carolinas hyperbaric technician will guide you on how to relieve any ear pressure, if necessary. Once the optimal pressure is reached, all you have to do is relax and breathe normally. As the session ends, your hyperbaric technician will gradually lower chamber pressure, which lasts about 10 minutes. During this stage, you may experience a light popping sensation in your ears. Once pressure is back to normal, you can exit the chamber and go about your day.
AIn general, you don't have to worry about serious side effects from HBOT. That's because it's an all-natural treatment - there are no incisions or addictive medications involved. However, some patients experience mild ear drum irritation. During your session, a Better Life Carolinas hyperbaric chamber expert will be by your side to help prevent this from happening.
AWithout a proper evaluation of your unique needs, it's hard to say with certainty. At Better Life Carolinas, we know that every patient is different. As such, every recommended therapy will be different, including the number of hyperbaric therapy sessions you need. Generally speaking, patients usually require 30 to 40 sessions. HBOT has a cumulative effect on your body and, as such, provides the best results with regularly occurring sessions.
AIf you have a form of air-trapping emphysema like COPD or have an untreated pneumothorax, HBOT isn't for you. At Better Life Carolinas, every one of our patients undergoes a full evaluation to ensure that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is safe for you and your body.
If you're looking for a hyperbaric chamber in Hanahan, SC look no further than Better Life Carolinas. Whether you're a professional athlete looking to maximize recovery time or need a natural way to look and feel younger, our experts are here to help. Unlike some clinics that rely on major invasive procedures and addictive medications, our team focuses on natural, holistic ways to heal your body. If you're ready to optimize your health and reclaim your youth, contact us today to learn more about HBOT and our other natural therapies.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Sometimes, in the toughest of times, it’s the littlest thing from the most unlikely place.“My purpose in life has always been to look after kids and their purpose,” North Charleston High School (NCHS) assistant coach and Lowcountry native Ray Mullins said. “Help them grow confidence. Coaching the game, I fell in love with the game. Gave me confidence and I tried to instill confidence in kids who needed places to grow.”Mullins graduated from Hanahan. Played for ...
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Sometimes, in the toughest of times, it’s the littlest thing from the most unlikely place.
“My purpose in life has always been to look after kids and their purpose,” North Charleston High School (NCHS) assistant coach and Lowcountry native Ray Mullins said. “Help them grow confidence. Coaching the game, I fell in love with the game. Gave me confidence and I tried to instill confidence in kids who needed places to grow.”
Mullins graduated from Hanahan. Played for Lander. He’s coached in the area for over two decades.
Read more: Northwood Academy basketball player surprised on court on senior night
“Coach Ray, I am forever grateful for him,” Summerville native and Pinewood Prep grad Michael Wright said. “There is a short list of coaches. Coach Eidson, my dad, who impact a player, and Ray was one of those guys. The moment I walked into the gym, he took me under his wing and believed in me as a basketball player.”
Their bond is deeply rooted. But, lives move on. Wright went to Pinewood Prep. He played AAU basketball for Mullins as a 15 year old. Wright is now a fifth year graduate student at University of Illinois Springfield. He plans on playing professional basketball overseas. Mullins, now teaching and coaching at NCHS, the place where his life forever changed less than a year ago.
“I was in Mr. Darby’s office at NCHS when I found out - they just told me - stage 4,” he said. “You think about life. You think about how things are going to work out - you hear stage 4. Nowadays, stage 4 isn’t a good thing to hear, but with technology and people wanting to support, there is a plan out there for you.”
Just as cancer spreads, so does word of it. (WCIV)
Just as cancer spreads, so does word of it.
“Terrible,” Wright said. “I remember finding out through Facebook. Something he had gone through. Somebody who cares so much about community and given so much to community through basketball, to have something like that effect their life, never like to see that.”
So, Wright took his emotions into his own hands. Literally. During the “Coaches versus cancer” night - he held up a sign. It simply said, “I suit up for Ray Mullins”.
Read more: Clifford overcomes stutter for highly successful 40 year career
“It’s humbling to me, brings me hope, great things in humanity,” Mullins said. “He did surprise me with the salute at the game the other night - super proud of him and what he’s become as a man. Just super proud. Gives me hope, doesn’t allow me to quit- didn’t know what quitting was until I started this chemo thing. They say not to quit, stay strong.”
“I got too much to pay it forward for, it’s not just about me,” he continued. “About kids I’m coaching. Kids that are fighting the same fight against cancer.”
In basketball terms, impact, is a “give and go”.
Hanahan High School coach Brian Mitchell enters his 20th season as the Hawks’ handler in baseball.He expects this year’s bunch to look about like most before it on the diamond. As the curtains open on the season, Mitchell’s squad is No. 4 in Class AAA by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association.Last spring, the Hawks won 25 games and capped the campaign in the Lower State tournament.“You could hit repeat on our last 10 years,” said Mitchell, who has more than 300 career victories. &ld...
Hanahan High School coach Brian Mitchell enters his 20th season as the Hawks’ handler in baseball.
He expects this year’s bunch to look about like most before it on the diamond. As the curtains open on the season, Mitchell’s squad is No. 4 in Class AAA by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association.
Last spring, the Hawks won 25 games and capped the campaign in the Lower State tournament.
“You could hit repeat on our last 10 years,” said Mitchell, who has more than 300 career victories. “We have some pitching and defense to be competitive. We’ve got to find some bats. We’ve got to hit. How far we’re able to go comes down to generating some runs. How are we going to be hitting at the end of the year?”
A recent practice was spent grinding at the plate, working on small ball. The Hawks bunted for more than an hour. Mitchell doesn’t think the Hawks are going to be able to sit on the bases and wait for doubles for run production.
“We’re going to have to be a hard-nosed contact team and put pressure on teams on the bases,” Mitchell said.
The Hawks begin the regular season on March 9 at Fort Dorchester and follow with road clashes at James Island on March 10 and West Ashley on March 13. Hanahan opens its home slate on March 15 versus Gainesville (Fla.) High School.
A stellar group of seniors are back to guide the journey this spring. Nick Cappello, a catcher/pitcher, batted .348 and posted a 7-0 mark on the mound with a 1.55 ERA as a junior. Catcher Mason Brady batted .333 in 2022. Outfielders Brayden Joseph and Kwame Parker made the most of their opportunities at the dish last season, hitting .441 and .419 in a total of 79 plate appearances. Pitcher/infielder Braylon Mitchell garnered three pitching victories as a junior but is currently sidelined with an injury.
From the junior class, brothers Landon Gomes and Hunter Gomes are key returners who made an impact in 2022. Landon, an outfielder, batted .328 and Hunter was 8-0 from the mound with a 2.53 ERA.
Additional arms on the bump are Gabe Dotterweich, Porter Sprovero, Nate Humphrey and Lucas Brown. Joining Brady and Cappello on the other end of the battery is Joey Smith.
Joseph and Sprovero are at first base while Jacob Bunting and Riley Turner are competing for time at second base. Camden Kackley moves into shortstop, replacing all-state player Aryan Patel, and Hunter Gomes is on the hot corner.
More players expected to roam the outfield grass are Dylan Crocker and Harry Swindal.
“I think we have good chemistry,” Mitchell said. “They’re all pulling for each other. We have some position battles but they know we’re all pulling in the same direction. They’re used to winning. They know it starts with team chemistry. These guys understand the teams that win are the teams that do all the small things right.”
HANAHAN, S.C. (WCBD) – The owner of a fitness training company in Hanahan that has been working with kids and adults for a few years is calling on the community to help keep his business open.Kendrick Robinson opened The Factory Sports and Fitness Training in Hanahan a year before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States to help train people in basketball, football, and other athletics.“It was something that God brought to...
HANAHAN, S.C. (WCBD) – The owner of a fitness training company in Hanahan that has been working with kids and adults for a few years is calling on the community to help keep his business open.
Kendrick Robinson opened The Factory Sports and Fitness Training in Hanahan a year before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States to help train people in basketball, football, and other athletics.
“It was something that God brought to me. He gave me a vision,” said Robinson. “I wanted to have a facility where the youth in our community could (better) selves and have a safe place where they can come and train.”
“He always helps out. He helps out with kids like schoolwork and stuff like that before training,” said Christian Gray, who has been coming to the program for four years.
Robinson said working with the youth is his passion. But things have been tough financially, he said.
“Our rates are really not expensive, but if they’re not able to do training, we try to do charitable giving would give out free sessions,” explained Robinson.
He went on to say, “We kind of gotten [sic] to a rough patch since Covid. We had a business plan, and it kind of altered all of that, and we’ve been playing catch-up ever since.”
Robinson decided Sunday to let the public know they might have to close next month and started a GoFundMe in hopes of finding some assistance.
“Not something I wanted to go public with, but closed mouths don’t get fed. God revealed that to me, he told me to make sure I keep this place open and get the help that we needed from the community. The response has been, man amazing.”
More than $2,500 has already come in from the community, of the $10,000 they need.
“It’s been amazing to get all the feedback and support from the supporters we’ve had over the years and knowing that we’re doing the right thing just by being transparent with the community and letting them know that it hasn’t always been easy.”
If you would like to help, please click here.
HANAHAN, S.C. (WCIV) — Hanahan High School has named Milan Turner as the next varsity football coach.Turner was announced as the high school's head football coach in a press release on Jan. 24.Read more: 4 months after departure, BCSD says former Hanahan HS head coach A...
HANAHAN, S.C. (WCIV) — Hanahan High School has named Milan Turner as the next varsity football coach.
Turner was announced as the high school's head football coach in a press release on Jan. 24.
Read more: 4 months after departure, BCSD says former Hanahan HS head coach Art Craig retired
“We are elated to welcome Coach Turner to the Hawk family,” Hanahan Principal Tom Gallus said in a statement. “Our community is very fortunate to have a coach of this caliber to lead and develop our student-athletes on and off the field. Coach Turner is a proven educator and leader. He knows what it takes to build a successful high school football program and to ensure that each student is prepared for their next steps after high school. I look forward to serving alongside Coach Turner and seeing our Hawks shine under the Friday night lights.”
According to the press release, Turner has been an educator since 1994 and has coached in six state championship games during his time at five Georgia high schools. He was most recently serving as the director of high school relations on the football staff for Georgia Southern University.
Read more: Hanahan High School announces interim head football coach in place of Art Craig
"First, I would like to thank Coach Clay Helton and Georgia Southern University for the incredible opportunity I had to serve this year on the football staff," Turner said. "I want to also thank Principal Tom Gallus, Athletic Director Kim Joseph, the search committee, and the Berkeley County Board of Education for this incredible opportunity to be a teacher and head football coach at Hanahan High School. I am extremely excited for the future of our school and athletic program. I cannot wait to get to work with our team and to meet the Hanahan community. Wendi and I feel extremely blessed."
"Thank you to Coach Helton, Staff, Players, Administration and Eagle Nation for an exciting journey this year. Thank you for letting me be a small part of something Special! The future is bright at Georgia Southern, You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! #GATA #HailSouthern," Turner's Twitter post read.
FMRP and tumor immunityMany tumors have developed mechanisms rendering them resistant to attack and destruction by the immune system. Zeng et al. report that fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is highly expressed in human cancers, and they propose that it is involved in antitumor immunity. FMRP is best known as an RNA-binding protein that regulates the stability and translation of neuronal RNAs. By genetically inactivating the FMRP gene in mouse cancer cells, the researchers found that FMRP-deficient tumors had reduc...
Many tumors have developed mechanisms rendering them resistant to attack and destruction by the immune system. Zeng et al. report that fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is highly expressed in human cancers, and they propose that it is involved in antitumor immunity. FMRP is best known as an RNA-binding protein that regulates the stability and translation of neuronal RNAs. By genetically inactivating the FMRP gene in mouse cancer cells, the researchers found that FMRP-deficient tumors had reduced growth and were more susceptible to attack by T lymphocytes. Tumor cells lacking FMRP showed remodeling of the tumor microenvironment, macrophage polarization, and upregulation of the chemokines involved in effector CD8+ T cell recruitment. —PNK
Cancer biology and therapy have been transformed by knowledge about immunoregulatory mechanisms that govern adaptive immunity. Although some forms of treatment resistance are related to the intentionally transitory operations of the adaptive immune system, others reflect more subtle requirements to modulate the immune system in different contexts. In this work, we identified an immunoregulatory mechanism involving the neuronal RNA binding protein fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which broadly regulates protein translation and mRNA stability and is aberrantly up-regulated in multiple forms of cancer.
This study was motivated by reports that cancer cells naturally overexpressing FMRP, whose loss of expression in developing neurons causes cognitive defects, were invasive and metastatic. We investigated the expression of FMRP in human tumors, further assessed its tumor-promoting functions in mouse models of cancer, and evaluated its association with prognosis for human cancer patients.
When human tumor tissue microarrays were immunostained for expression of FMRP, a majority of tumors expressed FMRP, whereas cognate normal tissues did not. To investigate the functional significance of this broad up-regulation, the FMR1 gene was ablated through CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing (FMRP-KO, where KO indicates knockout) in mouse cancer cell lines that were inoculated into both immunodeficient and syngeneic immunocompetent mice to establish tumors in parallel with wild-type (WT) FMRP-expressing cell lines. Mice bearing FMRP-KO tumors had similar survival compared with isogenic WT tumors in immunodeficient hosts, indicating that FMRP was not involved in stimulating tumor growth per se. By contrast, tumor growth was impaired and survival extended in immunocompetent hosts, implicating the adaptive immune system. Indeed, FMRP-expressing WT tumors were largely devoid of T cells, whereas FMRP-KO tumors were highly inflamed. Depletion of CD8 and CD4 T cells restored tumor growth and reduced survival, implicating FMRP in immune evasion in WT tumors. WT and FMRP-KO tumors were profiled by single-cell RNA sequencing, revealing marked differences in genome-wide transcription and abundance of cancer cells, macrophages, and T cells. To elucidate the effects of this multifaceted regulatory protein, we performed several functional perturbations, revealing that: FMRP-expressing cancer cells produce the chemokine interleukin-33 (IL-33), which induces regulatory T cells, as well as tumor-secreted protein S (PROS1) ligand and exosomes that elicit tumor-promoting (M2) macrophages. Both cell types are immunosuppressive, collectively contributing to the barrier against T cell attack. By contrast, FMRP-KO cancer cells down-regulate all three factors and up-regulate C-C motif chemokine ligand 7 (CCL7), which helps recruit and activate T cells. Additionally, immunostimulatory macrophages develop in this context that express three proinflammatory chemokines—CCL5, CXCL9, and CXCL10—which cooperate with CCL7 in recruiting T cells. Finally, neither FMR1 mRNA nor FMRP protein levels were sufficient to predict outcomes in cohorts of cancer patients. Recognizing FMRP’s function as an RNA binding protein that modulates mRNA stability and hence levels in transcriptome datasets, a gene signature reflecting FMRP’s cancer regulatory activity (involving 156 genes) was developed by comparing FMRP-expressing versus FMRP-deficient cancer cells, both in culture and within tumors. Our FMRP cancer activity signature was prognostic for survival across multiple human cancers; anticorrelated with the intensity of T cell infiltration in different tumor types, consistent with FMRP’s immunosuppressive effects; and was associated with comparatively poor responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors and immune-dependent chemotherapy in selected cohorts.
FMRP is revealed as a regulator of a network of genes and cells in the tumor microenvironment that contribute to the capability of tumors to evade immune destruction.
Many human cancers manifest the capability to circumvent attack by the adaptive immune system. In this work, we identified a component of immune evasion that involves frequent up-regulation of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) in solid tumors. FMRP represses immune attack, as revealed by cancer cells engineered to lack its expression. FMRP-deficient tumors were infiltrated by activated T cells that impaired tumor growth and enhanced survival in mice. Mechanistically, FMRP’s immunosuppression was multifactorial, involving repression of the chemoattractant C-C motif chemokine ligand 7 (CCL7) concomitant with up-regulation of three immunomodulators—interleukin-33 (IL-33), tumor-secreted protein S (PROS1), and extracellular vesicles. Gene signatures associate FMRP’s cancer network with poor prognosis and response to therapy in cancer patients. Collectively, FMRP is implicated as a regulator that orchestrates a multifaceted barrier to antitumor immune responses.
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